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Tuesday, July 13, 2010

I believe there’s a news program that asks, “What would you do?” They’d set up a situation and ask you to say or think what you would do in that situation.

That’s what we ask ourselves when we write. We put our protagonist in a “situation” or we cause something to happen to her or him, then we ask ourselves, what would we do, then we have our character do that. And, voila, the plot moves forward.

So now I’m asking you, Does it? Does the plot move forward?

You trap your protagonist in a cave with no obvious way out, then you ask, OK, how would I get out? How would I react in this situation? Or you have your protagonist find out she has cancer or diabetes and you then think, how would I react?

How you would react is not integral to your story. What matters is how that character would react. How that person would react and what that person would do. If your characters are just mini-yous, then they are not real people. Sure, they’re gonna have bits of you in them (you are their creator), but they are not you.

Stop and think of all the different possibilities. Your character has just been given really bad medical news. What will she do?

Go to bed and cry for two days.
Run to the gym and exercise herself into exhaustion.
Call friends and tell each of them.
Hide the prognosis and tell no one.
Tell only one trusted friend.
Get on the Internet and begin researching.
Stop on the way home to have her will changed.
Sit by the lake and try to soak in the beauty of the water and ducks.
Sell her house and begin a quest to do the things on her bucket list.
Call her siblings and tell them the prognosis so they can get tested.
Throw out her brown suit and pumps and head to the nightclub for some fun.
Make appointments with specialists and begin treatment.

In any situation there are a myriad of possibilities. Don’t just go with the first one that comes to mind – the one you would do. Your protagonist has to be real to you or she won’t be real to the reader. So ask her or let her tell you.

Have you written a character that didn’t do what you would have done? Were you surprised? Did you learn something by listening to him or her?

I'm with Cold as Heaven on this one. I like the characters (in some instances anyway) to act/do differently than I would. While I do like to consider how *I* would deal with certain situations that character always differs in how best to handle things. Their life circumstances are also almost always so different from mine that the choices are inherently different.

I make my characters live and, in return, I get to live through them sometimes. ;)

I was writing the 2nd book and had my character second-guess herself about walking into a high-class establishment wearing, let's just say, sad, wrinkled, faded clothes. She walked away, but the scene wasn't working. Eventually I figured out it was because my character WOULDN'T walk away. Her sense of curiousity would overrule her sense of fashion. I'm not certain whether that's what I would have done or not...

Characters aren't happy when they're stuffed into role they don't want. If you try to force them to do something against their character, it'll show. You, the writer, created these people. Listen to them.

What an important reminder, Helen. Early on my characters seemed too much like me, but I learned to let them be their own persons with practice. Jenny in One Small Victory is one character who really isn't me. I don't think I would have the courage to do what she did by working as a confidential informant and facing down a major drug dealer.

Brilliant post and this is fantastic method for character development. My protagonists are always like me though..it's much easier. Which is slightly strange though, because all of them are psychotic. :(

Brilliant post and this is fantastic method for character development. My protagonists are always like me though..it's much easier. Which is slightly strange though, because all of them are psychotic. :(

Excellent post. I do love wondering what I would do in various situations. It is almost like playing what if, which is my favourite game. The really interesting thing is that it may seem like there is only one or two options but then when you think about it and get really specific, there are almost limitless options in every situation and finding the right one for your character can sometimes take a bit of time and consideration.Thanks for sharing this.

Angel Sometimes by Helen Ginger

Angel Sometimes

Helen Ginger

Helen is the author of five books: three non-fiction, a short story anthology and a contemporary fiction, Angel Sometimes. She maintains an informational and interactive blog for writers and a weekly e-newsletter that has been going out to subscribers around the globe for thirteen years. She is an owner-partner and Women’s Marketing Director for Legends In Our Own Minds®, which specializes in creative networking opportunities for companies and groups.